So I sent my autographed Masterpiece Bumblebee to get AFA graded, and because I have sent two figures before with UPS I didn't think there would be any problems. Well I was wrong. I have just learned that even after asking me if it's a collectable ( clue number one.) They put tracking stickers ON THE BOX! Even over the signature. Clue number two should have been when they asked if I wanted to open the package to put the paperwork inside. Are you clueless, doesn't the term collectable mean anything to you? Here are some pictures AFA sent back to me. I could kill somebody.
Wait. You took that into the UPS store and they shipped it as is, without a cardboard box? Also: pic two looks like its been shrink wrapped and the labels are on that... I'm confused.
Primus! I don't really know all that much regarding AFA, but having a damn label on an autograph is such a dick move. I mean, yeah the dude most likely ain't a collector, but why would you put a label on a Autograph?!?! I'm very sorry that this happened to you. Did you complain?
Did you drop off the figure at a UPS Store to be packaged and shipped? Can you peel the shipping labels off of the box without damaging it? Try it. Just take your time.
Not certain why you'd want to AFA grade that, anyway. The corners of the packaging are easily going to knock it down to 7.9 or less right out the gate. I'd just save your money and stick it in a clear case.
Yeah, you need to provide more details. As others have asked, why didn't you put the figure's box in a brown cardboard shipper?
What is happening with UPS lately? We ordered a dress for my fiancée for our wedding. UPS claims that my address (the correct address, quadruple checked by myself, the company that sent the dress, and how it appears on the shipping box itself) was incorrect, so they sent it to my old address. In another state. Where I no longer live. No idea how they got my old address, and how they could get that information without getting my email address or phone number and contacting me to ask. But HOLY SHIT I can't believe they did that to your figure. I've seen Amazon do that, but not UPS.
I've sent figures threw them before and they've packaged it. They frickin asked if it was collectable. You'd think I'd want it protected.
I can go on for hours about UPS horror stories. $100k paintings being ruined, etc. NEVER, I REPEAT, NEVER ALLOW UPS TO BOX AN ITEM FOR YOU!!!! Not only do they charge you an insane boxing fee, and for tape, they will never package an item better than you can. If you want to know why this was done, look no further than DIMENSIONAL WEIGHT. UPS charges based on dimensional weight now instead of actual weight. If you fill a 9x9x9" box with lead it will cost less to ship than a 25x12x12" box with a single feather in it. So boxing your figure, that is already in a box, would have cost far more than slapping a label on it.
Yeah, if your sending something out for AFA grading, I recommend you bubble wrap it and box it up. You kind of learned an important lesson. The guy shipping 100s of packages a day doesn't care about your individual package. So you should. Works in other parts of life as well.
THIS TIMES A MILLION !! Dude you are crazy as hell for leaving a unboxed MP with any one , and expecting them to deliver it for you . Box that shit yourself , and use over night shipping via USPS.
Yeah, I kinda have to put the blame on the OP here. No clue why in the world if you're sending something you consider valuable to be value graded that you'd trust anyone else to package it. If you hand it over to another party who charges for the service of packaging and shipping the item for you, they will always try to maximize their own profits and pack and ship the item for as little as possible. Hopefully lesson learned here. tl;dr this thread is dumb.
The UPS boxing fee should would show up on your receipt as a separate line item from the shipping fee. I shipped an iMac using them and paid for them to box it up. They charged me labour and the box/packaging materials.
Here's the thing: UPS Stores are independently owned. It's entirely up to how much the owner cares about providing a good service. I worked at one a few years back and we were trained extensively on how choose the right size box, how to make custom shaped boxes, pack things properly, how to double box super valuable stuff... But the store a couple blocks over was owned be a completely different guy. You were lucky if they even had packing peanuts for packing boxes that week. We drilled customers about how they packed the things they wanted shipped, because most of the time we did better. OP's clearly had a bunch of lazy bums.
Based on my experience with how some packages are delivered by some carriers, I would honestly not trust them to package anything unless I was watching them do it myself.